OWN CORRESPONDENTS, Nelspruit | Tuesday
A 10-year old Mpumalanga boy who was left paralysed and brain damaged after attempts to treat his broken arm went horribly wrong four years ago may finally see justice this week.
The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said it would investigate why provincial authorities ignored repeated appeals for additional medical treatment and calls for an urgent malpractice probe into Zweli Methule’s plight.
Zweli was left a brain-damaged paraplegic after he was admitted to Themba Hospital with a broken arm just after his seventh birthday in November 1996.
“He used to be a full of energy like any child his age, but is now trapped in a wheelchair and cannot even talk. The only thing he can do without someone helping is cry,” said his distraught grandmother and guardian, Eva Methule.
“We have repeatedly asked for help, but have been ignored. The doctor who did this to Zweli was never charged or even questioned.”
SAHRC commissioner Charlotte McClain said she was scheduled to meet Mpumalanga health MEC Sibongile Manana to discuss the case after reading about Zweli’s plight in a Sunday newspaper.
“We will also visit Zweli at home and speak to his family. We are concerned that the boy does not appear to be getting the government support he is entitled to,” said McClain.
McClain declined to comment on the Methule family’s attempts to sue government for compensation, and force formal charges against the doctor.
Methule’s grandmother has appealed for urgent funding for physiotherapy, warning that Zweli’s leg and arm muscles are wasting away from lack of use.
“I should never have taken him to that hospital of hell, but you never expect a hospital to maim you,” said Methule.
Methule is using her meagre State pension to fund the family’s legal battle for justice. The child’s mother died shortly after his trauma and his father is jobless. – African Eye News Service